How to fix Android 4.4.2 KitKat problems on the Galaxy Note 3

Have you been experiencing problems with your Galaxy Note 3 since having updated to Android 4.4.2 KitKat? Some problems that users have reported are email and contact sync errors, abnormally fast battery consumption, connection issues to Wi-Fi networks and apps that suddenly stop working. Don’t look any further than Android 4.4.2, the cause for many new problems on your phablet. For some, the Android update is problem-free, but for those who are living with an Android nightmare, here are some ways to fix your KitKat problems.

Please note that Samsung hasn’t publicly commented on any problems resulting from the Android 4.4.2 update, and we still don’t know if a stability patch will ever roll out to help fix up some of these issues. In the meantime, here are some solutions to the problems.

SD card and apps

The update removed the option to save to the SD card. Applications like Titanium Backup don’t do anything and we highly doubt that Samsung will revert this decision, which is why we offer these two solutions:

Battery loss

Quite a few users have said they’ve noticed that battery life is not like it used to be since they’ve upgraded to Android 4.4.2 KitKat, which is a problem considering you probably bought this device in the last six months. Unfortunately there is no perfect fix, but one thing is certain: buying a new smartphone isn’t the solution, that’s not the problem.

Here are the possible solutions:

Perform a factory reset by going into your Settings, then back up and restore, ensure that you have ticked off the boxes to back up your data and automatic restore, as well as ensure it is the correct email address. Finally press Factory data reset and follow the prompts. Your phone will shut off and restart at which time you set up it up like you did when first receiving the phablet. Again, be sure you have backed up your data because a factory reset it wipes everything. Backing up via Settings only saves app data, but not other stuff, like photos, sms, game progress etc.

WiFi connection problems

There have been a few people reporting problems connecting to WiFi, dropped connections or weak signals. Here are a few fixes:

Go to Settings, then connections and finally WiFi. Select your WiFi network. Click on the menu button and select Forget. Then, deactivate your WiFi and reactivate it after a few minutes. Insert the WiFi network information again and it should work.

Problems with email sync

One of the biggest problems noticed with Android 4.4.2 was the receipt of emails: following the 4.4.2 update, sync doesn’t work anymore. This can be taken care of by following a few steps:

Head to Settings, then Accounts and finally Google. Click on your own Google account. Check to see if automatic sync has been switched on and that the Gmail, contacts and application boxes have all been ticked. If you have more than one Gmail account, ensure that you do this for all of them.

Head to Settings, then Accounts and again choose Google. Here select Google+, and Automatic save.

Ensure that sync has been activated, you can check this in the Quick Settings by dragging down the notifications bar. Here the sync option needs to be activated.

Apps won’t work anymore

With Android 4.4.2 on the Galaxy Note 3, some apps that worked just fine with Android 4.3 have suddenly stopped working. Here’s what you can do to help this:

The app in question might not be compatible with Android 4.4.2. This is rare, but from time to time you’ll come across an app that is like this. You can contact the developer of the app in question to ask if an update is planned to fix this problem.

Syncing data between apps can help, see the point mentioned above. Just to go Settings, then Accounts and Google.

Empty the cache of the particular app by going in the Settings, then Application Manager, and select the app. Finally choose clear cache. You can also try uninstalling and reinstalling the app again.

41 comments

anybody got this problem : the proces android.proces.acore stopped!i did a few times already a factory reinstall but the error is always comming back :(i have a sony Xperia T3 with android kitkat 4.4.2

The WIFI problem is my biggest headache, but I have also ran into a problem with the size of the text in my text messages. I have set it umpteen times, yet every time I have left the app and gone back it, the text size is right back to the biggest setting. This also, started happening after the update. I have loved my Note 3 up until this latest update.

Hi, I've recently got the 2nd update of the version 4.4.2 on my note 3 and now I'm experiencing a couple of problems with it. Every time I play song even on the stock playback player it starts off the vibration system and would not stop vibrating until I pause the music.. same thing happens to the video player. Second problem is whenever I'm watching a video on YouTube the sound keeps going on fine but the video freezes. None of these problem used to happen when I got the 1st version of the 4.4.2 update. Any fix for these two problems? Many thanks

I've only had the update a day, and it's really messed up my phone.Apps randomly closing (even when I reinstall them), sometimes the keyboard doesn't respond at all when I type or is very slow, when trying to call people sometimes I have to get out of contacts and try multiple times as it becomes non responsive, sometimes the screen doesn't turn back on when it times out and I have to wait a few minutes before it turns back on, the notification bar is quite slow most of the time, when I go from an app to the home screen the home screen is blank for a few seconds then all the apps appear, and my phone is generally a lot slower than it usually is.

I don't feel I am experiencing any of the problems listed above. My phone is rooted but using stock 4.4.2, I updated using ODIN and I downloaded the ROM from Sammobile.com.

The issues I have (probably) are:

- Battery has been draining in less than a day, when I used to charge it every day and a half to two days.

- The Smart Stay is absolutely not working now, I mean, I see the eye, but my screen always turns off anyway, even when gaming, during scenes where I have to read or looking for something or a video is playing, the screen turns off.

I hope these and other issues get fixed with KitKat 4.4.3 which will be (apparently) coming on the middle of July.

The update for my Note 3 was pushed to my phone by AT&T on Memorial Day. The first issue I had was that it took 75-80 minutes for the update to complete, and for that time I could not leave my home WiFi. AT&T tech support warned me to not stop the update and not interrupt it for fear of data loss.

Now that I have been using this update for a couple of weeks, and this device is my mobile office and not a toy or game, I want to point out all the issues with the update to 4.4.2:

1) Screen rotation randomly stops working. Switching rotation off and then on seems to fix the problem.

2) Battery life has definitely been reduced. Fortunately I never leave home without my Radio Shack battery charger and a short USB cable.

3) MAJOR ISSUE: My email is a Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync account - for work. All of a sudden, when I reply to emails that are 75 kb or larger (that is not a type - 75 kb is relatively small but large enough to hang the email). I removed my account and reinstalled it. No change. I pulled the battery on the phone, waited three to five minutes, reinstalled the battery, and again no change. My company's tech support says it must be the phone because it is NOT the Microsoft Exchange mail server.

4) MAJOR ISSUE: My phone is set to lock after 30 seconds of inactivity, for security purposes. When locked, if a phone call comes in swiping to answer the call does not work. Neither does swiping to ignore the call. I must be able to answer the phone.

Having spent 20+ years in technology and having owned an IT consulting firm, I do not understand how all this was not properly tested by both Samsung and AT&T. Both of these companies are messing with our livelihood. Shame on them.

IMHO, this needs to be their priority and they need to resolve these issues within two weeks, and roll out a fix. No ifs, ands, or buts about it !!!

Kitkat installed yesterday on my perfectly fine Note 8, went to reboot and the tablet didn't come back on. Now have a brick, completely dead, will not power on despite all attempts. Now left with a repairs shop, who though they are experts, are having difficulty getting it started, despite power getting to the unit.Who can i go to? Surely either Google or Samsung should be accountable for such problems, directly resulting from an official firmware update? Help! I can't afford a replacement, am worried about the cost of repair, if indeed it can be repaired and it is out of its guarantee period.

I was going to try a factory reset but as I was late getting home last night I decided to go to bed. My phone died before I went to sleep and I did not plug it in. I came in to work today and plugged in my phone but left it off until it was 94% charged. Miraculously every single issue I was having is now gone and everything is working as it should be. I wonder if maybe there was something in memory that was causing the issues and an extended period in the off mode just cleared it???

I am having all of the above except for e-mail connectivity. What I am also experiencing which is truely annoying is a new very long lag when touching the device. One of the things they were bragging about in posts was that the reaction time of the touch screen was supposed to be improved. I never really noticed any lag at all on my device before updating. It now takes an extraordinary amount of time for the screen to realize I've touched it. Anyone elso having this problem? Anyone have any idea how to fix it. It is not just one particular app but anything I do. When I try to type a TXT MSG I can finish typing an entire story before any of the letters show up. When I try to scroll, whether it is the Facebook app or Chrome, or e-mail, I scroll my finger up but nothing happens, then like 45 seconds later it starts to scroll. This gets so aggravating as it will always race right past where you wanted to be. Someone, please help!!!

Upgraded to KitKat 4.4.2 on a Galaxy Note III. and the one feature I really need is broken. I use IMAP to share email across a variety of devices. Unfortunately the email application no longer understands what messages have been marked as read on the server. In the past everything worked fine. If I read on my Desktop client a few seconds later it is marked as read on the phone. It works the other way though. If I read on the phone it marks the message as read and will appear so on the desktop. This is the first version of a Samsung device where this functionality was completely broken. I have had a Galaxy S2 and S3 in the past.